Sunday, May 21, 2006

Yesterday evening while I was in the process of making MBH's requested dinner of fried chicken and mashed potatoes, our doorbell rang. Moments before I had heard the rumble of a delivery truck stop outside in the street but as it was Saturday and the people across the street had been moving out, I assumed it must have been them making one last trip with the U-Haul. Quickly washing my hands of flour and egg batter, I rushed to the door to see the retreating back of the postman as he walked down our porch steps having just deposited at our door a small, brown box from Amazon. "Honey, did you order something from Amazon?" After being met by silence, I turned down the burner on the stove to avoid setting the kitchen on fire and walked into our bedroom where MBH and LB were ensconced on the bed for an evening of reading and napping. "No. Did you?", he asked with a funny look on his face. "No, but it is addressed to me", I replied. "Well then, I suggest you open it forthwith", MBH ordered me. And never being one to be ordered twice to open unexpected packages, I complied.

It seems that MBH decided that after the way my end of the work week was going, that it was his duty to show me how much he (and LB) appreciate my care for them by ordering me a cookbook from Amazon Wishlist as a surprise. The newest addition to my vast cookbook collection: Dim Sum: Delicious Finger Food by Fiona Smith.

We both love dim sum and I have been wanting to learn to make it at home since I watched Rhoda Yee on a PBS cooking show make steamed pork buns and little tiny pot stickers. I even checked out her videos several years ago and made a very poor attempt at making some dim sum for New Years Eve. Now, armed with this new cookbook filled with lovely pictures and what appears to be easy to follow recipes, I am ready to try again.

I think we shall have to make a trip to Boston's Chinatown very soon so I can get really good wonton wrappers at the Super 88 Asian Market and then I can really show MBH exactly how sweet I think he is with a little shumai